High density panel with rotating tray

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a telecommunications termination panel with a tray pivotably mounted within the front opening of a housing. The tray pivots about a hinge located adjacent one of the sides of the housing and includes a raised floor. The raised floor of the tray cooperates with the side adjacent the hinge and a bottom of the housing to define a cable path from a rear cable access port to an opening on the tray adjacent the hinge. The tray includes a plurality of connection locations and cable management structures to direct a telecommunications cable from the cable access port to a rear of the connection locations without violating bend radius rules. The tray may also include a temporary cable holder to assist in pulling cables through the rear opening into the housing. The present invention further relates to a telecommunications equipment rack with a termination panel with such a pivoting tray mounted to the rack.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/277,606, filed Oct. 21, 2002, which application is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to telecommunications termination panelswith pivoting bulkheads.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In telecommunications infrastructure installations, equipment forswitching, cross-connecting and inter-connecting a variety of panels isused. Many of these panels are installed in telecommunications equipmentracks to permit organized, high-density installations to be achieved inlimited space available for equipment. Due to the increasing demand fortelecommunications system capacity, it is desirable to increase thedensity of connections within a given space that can be achieved.Commensurate with the demand for increased capacity from the sameinstallation footprint is a desire to improve the organization andhandling of the cables used to link the equipment within theinstallation and the outside plant and facilities cables.

One approach to increasing the density of connections within the samefootprint is to increase the number of connections supported within agiven panel. Access to these connections within panels of higherdensities is necessary for the installation, operation and maintenanceof the panels. Preferably, access to any one connection within a panelwill not cause unnecessary strain on cables extending from otheradjacent connections. Modification of the layout of the interior ofthese panels to improve connector access is desirable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a telecommunications termination panelwith a pivoting tray with a plurality of adapters. The tray is hingedlymounted within the front opening of a housing. Optical fiber cablesenter the rear of the housing and extend beneath a raised floor towardthe front, entering the tray at an opening adjacent the hinge. The trayincludes cable management structures which direct the cables to one sideof the adapters. Optical fiber cables may be connected to the other sideof the adapters and extended through an opening in the side of thehousing adjacent the hinge.

The pivoting tray may include a temporary cable clamp mounted to a rearbulkhead of the tray to aid the loading of additional cables into thepanel and connecting these additional cables to the rear of theadapters.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of the specification, illustrate several aspects of the presentinvention and together with the description, serve to explain theprinciples of the invention. A brief description of the drawings is asfollows:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a telecommunications equipment rack withtwo termination panels according to the present invention mounted.

FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of a first embodiment of atermination panel according to the present invention with the topremoved for clarity.

FIG. 3 is a second front perspective view of the termination panel ofFIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a rear perspective view of the termination panel of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a second rear perspective view of the termination panel ofFIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a top view of the termination panel of FIG. 2.

FIG. 7 is a front perspective view of the termination panel of FIG. 2,with the tray swung to an open position allowing access to theconnections.

FIG. 8 is a second front perspective view of the termination panel ofFIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a rear perspective view of the termination panel of FIG. 7.

FIG. 10 is a second rear perspective view of the termination panel ofFIG. 7.

FIG. 11 is a top view of the termination panel of FIG. 7.

FIG. 12 is a partially exploded view of the termination panel of FIG. 7.

FIG. 13 is a front perspective view of a second embodiment of atermination panel according to the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a second front perspective view of the termination panel ofFIG. 13.

FIG. 15 is a rear perspective view of the termination panel of FIG. 13.

FIG. 16 is a second rear perspective view of the termination panel ofFIG. 13.

FIG. 17 is a top view of the termination panel of FIG. 13.

FIG. 18 is a front perspective view of the termination panel of FIG. 13,with the tray swung to an open position allowing access to theconnections and one of the sliding connector modules extended upward toprovide access to the connections of the modules.

FIG. 19 is a second front perspective view of the termination panel ofFIG. 18.

FIG. 20 is a rear perspective view of the termination panel of FIG. 18with the connector module retracted.

FIG. 21 is a second rear perspective view of the termination panel ofFIG. 20.

FIG. 22 is a top view of the termination panel of FIG. 20.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Reference will now be made in detail to the exemplary aspects of thepresent invention that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughoutthe drawings to refer to the same or like parts.

Referring now to the FIGS., telecommunications connections panels 10provide a plurality of connection locations for linkingtelecommunications cables within a single panel. These panels 10 mayelectrically connect copper cables or optically connect optical fibercables at these connection locations. Such a panel 10 is shown in FIG.1, mounted to a telecommunications equipment rack 12 adjacent a secondpanel 10. Additional panels 10 or other telecommunications equipment mayalso be mounted to rack 12. Rack 12 is shown as a nineteen inch widerack. It is anticipated that panel 10 could also be adapted for use witha twenty-three inch wide rack or with other widths of racks within thescope of the present invention.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a plurality of optical fiber cables 14 are eachterminated by a connector 15. These connectors 15 are connected to afirst side or rear of a plurality of connection locations or adapters16. A plurality of optical fiber patch cords, such as cables 18 are eachterminated with a connector 19. These connectors 19 are connected to asecond side or front of adapters 16. Adapters 16 align and opticallylink the optical fiber within a cable 14 with the optical fiber within acable 18. As seen in FIG. 2, cables 18 extend away from adapters 16,passing through a plurality of vertically oriented fingers 20 whichprovide bend radius protection as cables 18 are directed toward andthrough an opening 22 in a side 24 of panel 10. After passing throughopening 22, cables 18 may be directed across a ramp 26 (also providingbend radius protection) into an adjacently mounted cableway and extendedto other telecommunications equipment.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, panel 10 includes a housing made up ofside 24, opposing side 28, and a bottom 30. A top 31 (shown in FIG. 1and removed from the other drawings for clarity) cooperates with sides24 and 28 and bottom 30 to define a front opening 32 and a rear opening34. Mounted within front opening 32 is a pivoting tray 36 with a frontwall 38 substantially closing off front opening 32 with tray 36positioned as shown in FIGS. 2 through 6. Tray 36 pivots about an axisdefined by a hinge 42 adjacent side 24. Front wall 38 includes areleasably latch 40 opposite hinge 42 which engages tab 41 in side 28 toreleasably hold tray 36 in a closed position within front opening 32.Latch 40 as shown is a rotating finger latch. It is anticipated thatlatch 40 could be a lock requiring a key to release, providingadditional security to the interior of panel 10.

Sides 24 and 28 include flanges 44 for mounting top 31 to panel 10.Bottom 30 includes a rear mounting flange 46 so that a rear wall (notshown) can be mounted to substantially close off rear opening 34. Sides24 and 28 also include mounting brackets 48 along an outer side to aidin mounting panel 10 to rack 12.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, adapters 16 are mounted in a series ofparallel, vertically oriented modules 17. As shown in the FIGS., sixadapters are mounted in each module 17 and twelve modules 17 are mountedon tray 36. Thus configured, panel 10 is capable of supporting up toseventy-two optical connections between optical fiber cables 14 andpatch cords 18. Optical fiber cables 14 enter panel 10 through rearopening 34 within a multi-strand cable such as an inter-facility cable50. Cable 50 is held to panel 10 by a cable clamp 52 adjacent rearopening 34 and enters panel 10 through a cable access port 54. If a rearwall were mounted to panel 10 to close off rear opening 34, cable accessport 54 should remain unobstructed to permit entry of cable 50. Cable 50includes at least some of optical fibers 14 bundled together in a commoncasing.

Cable access port 54 includes a pair of opposing bend radius protectioncurves 56 to ensure that cable 50 (or any other optical fiber cablesextending into panel 10 through port 54) are not bend through too tightof a curve as the cables enter port 54. Each curve 56 includes a finger58 positioned with respect to each other to permit cable 50 to be laidbetween curves 56 and prevent cable 50 from extending above curves 56.Tray 36 includes a raised floor 60 which is positioned above curves 56,fingers 58 and cable 50. Raised floor 60 cooperates with side 24 andbottom 30 to define a cable path 62. Cable path 62 permits cable 50 toextend through cable access port 54 and into panel 10 along bottom 30and side 24 in the direction of hinge 42.

Referring now to FIG. 6, cable 50 extends through cable path 62 alongside 24 to enter tray 36 adjacent hinge 42, extending up out of cablepath 62 and entering tray 36 above raised floor 60. Cable 50 extendsbetween an inner wall 64 and an outer wall 66. Located between walls 64and 66 is a ramp 65 which lifts cable 50 from beneath raised floor 60into tray 36 above raised floor 60. Walls 64 and 66 cooperate to carrycable 50 through a semicircular arc without violating bend radius rules.As cable 50 enters tray 36, it is held by an anchor 68. Cable 50 is thenbroken down into individual fiber cables 14. To ensure that additionalslack is available to repair damage to cables 14 without having toadjust the position of cable 50, cables 14 are wrapped around a firstdrum 70 before extending about a second drum 72 into an area 74 behindadapters 16 within modules 17. From area 74, connectors 15 of cables 14are connected to adapters 16 which will permit cables 14 to be opticallyconnected to cables 18. Outer wall 66 also provides bend radiusprotection to cables 18 extending from fingers 20 through opening 22 inside 24 and across ramp 26.

Referring now to FIGS. 7 through 9, a dashed line on bottom 30 indicatesthe location of cable path 62 along side 24. In this FIG., tray 36 isswung to an open position about hinge 42 allowing entry into panel 10through front opening 32. Along an end of tray 36 opposite front wall38, both corners have been relieved or angled. A first angled corner 78allows tray 36 to pivot about hinge 42 without being impeded by side 28.A second angled corner 80 allows greater access into panel 10 throughfront opening 32 between tray 36 and side 28 when tray 36 is in the openposition.

Tray 36 includes a plurality of bulkheads 82 along the sides and rear oftray 36, and a central bulkhead 76 separating area 74 from the areaabove raised floor 60. Bulkheads 82 and 76 cooperate to organize opticalfibers 14 and keep optical fibers 14 within tray 36 as tray 36 is swungfrom the open position shown in FIGS. 7 through 11 to the closedposition shown in FIGS. 1 through 6. This will help prevent opticalfibers 14 from being pinched or otherwise damaged. A plurality ofconnectors 84 are located between the various bulkheads 82 to physicallyconnect adjacent bulkheads 82 and reinforce the structure of tray 36.Also reinforcing bulkheads 82 and the overall structure of tray 36 are apair of triangular gussets 86 connecting a bulkhead 82 to front wall 38adjacent latch 40.

Referring now to FIG. 10, cable 50 is shown entering tray 36 along ramp65 between walls 64 and 66 through an opening 88 adjacent hinge 42.Between opening 88 and anchor 68, a ramp elevates cable 50 from thelevel of bottom 30 to the level of raised floor 60. Positioning opening88 as close as possible to hinge 42 minimizes the amount of slackrequired in cable 50 within cable path 62 to permit tray 36 to swingbetween the open and closed positions. The further from hinge 42 thatopening 88 is located, the more slack in cable 50 is required to permittray 36 to move unhindered.

Similarly, cables 18 from the front of adapters 16 extend around fingers20 and forward of outer wall 66 to exit through opening 22 which is alsopositioned as close as possible to hinge 42. This relative locationhelps reduce the amount of slack required in cables 18 to permitunhindered movement of tray 36.

When working with optical fibers within a telecommunications panel, itis desirable that direct viewing down the axis of any optical fibers beavoiding. Exposure to the high intensity laser light transmitted throughoptical fibers can cause significant harm to the vision of a workersubjected to accidental exposure. Orientation of the fiber within apanel or other device so that the axis of the fibers and any adapters isdirected away from where a worker would be standing is desirable.Referring now to FIGS. 11 and 18, cables 14, adapters 16 and cables 18are oriented parallel to the front of panel 10, as indicated by dashedline 120 in FIG. 18, when tray 36 is the open position. A workeraccessing adapters 16 or the cables 14 and 18 connected to adapters 16would most likely be standing directly in front of panel 10 when openingtray 36 and accessing the contents of panel 10. In this arrangement,with tray 36 in the open position, the risk of accidental exposure isreduced.

FIG. 12 shows additional detail regarding items mounted to tray 36,including the arrangement of adapters 16 within modules 17. Commonlyowned U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,497,444, 5,717,810 and 5,758,003, and U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/991,271, the disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference, further describe and show thestructure and features of modules 17. Briefly, each module 17 includeslocations for mounting a plurality of adapters 16. As shown also in FIG.18, discussed in more detail below, each module 17 is slidably mountedbetween a pair of walls 90 and may be extended generally upward abovetray 36, in the direction of dashed line 122 in FIG. 18. Thuspositioned, access to adapters 16 mounted to module 17 and any opticalfiber cables attached to adapters 16 is improved. Walls 90 areconfigured to receive a sliding module 17 on each side, so that a totalof thirteen walls 90 are required to support the twelve modules 17.

As disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/991,271, and asshown in FIG. 18, modules 17 extend at an angle toward front 38.Adapters 16 are mounted at a corresponding angle to modules 17 so thatthe axis of insertion of fiber optic cables to the front and rear ofeach adapter 16 is substantially parallel to floor 94 of tray 36.Alternatively, walls 90 and modules 17 could be configured so thatmodules 17 slide vertically, with adapters 16 mounted horizontally tomodules 17.

Tray 36 includes a floor 94 above which is a second raised floor 96within area 74 adjacent the rear of adapters 16. As described above,raised floor 60 is offset above bottom 30 of panel 10 and cable path 62is defined between raised floor 60 and bottom 30 adjacent side 24. Drums70 and 72 are mounted to raised floor 96, a portion of which extendsover raised floor 60. Raised floor 96 includes a ramp 100 extending downto the full depth of floor 94 and leading from area 74 to the rear ofadapters 16. Forward of adapters 16 is a transition piece 98, to whichare mounted the fingers 20. Cables 18 from the front of adapters 16extend through and around fingers 20, forward of outer wall 66 andthrough opening 22 in side 24.

FIGS. 13 through 22 illustrate a second embodiment 110 of atelecommunications connection panel in accord with the presentinvention. This embodiment is constructed and configured substantiallythe same as panel 10. The principal difference is that panel 110 haspatch cords or cables 118 extending through cable access port 54 insteadof cable 50. The routing of cables 118 entering cable access port 54follows cable path 62 along bottom 30 beneath raised floor 60 to opening88 adjacent hinge 42. After being directed between walls 64 and 66,cables 118 extend about drum 72 into area 74 adjacent the rear ofadapters 16. It is not necessary to pass cables 118 through anchor 68 ascables 118 emerge above raised floor 60. It is also not necessary topass cables 118 about drum 70 to store slack. If a connector 19 of oneof the cables 118 is damaged, the particular cable 118 can be removedand replaced entirely. Alternatively, since cables 118 are not clampedin a bundle by clamp 52, additional length can be pulled into panel 110for a single cable 118 to be repaired or reterminated without undulydisturbing the other cables 118.

Panel 10 and panel 110 may be configured so that either will accept amulti-strand optical fiber cable such as cable 50 or single strandoptical fiber cables such as cables 118 through cable access port 54.The presence of the features such as anchor 68 and first drum 70 forcables 50 do not impair the ability of panel 10 to accept and directcables 118 to the rear of adapters 16.

Referring now to FIG. 15, mounted to bulkhead 82 along second angledcorner 80 of tray 36 is a temporary cable clamp 112. Clamp 112 isdirectly above cable access port 54 and aids in the loading of cablesinto tray 36 of panel 110. To load a new cable 118 (or a cable 50) intotray 36 without clamp 112, a worker would need to swing tray 36 to theopen position, allowing access through front opening 32 adjacent side28, as shown in FIG. 21. The worker would then have to reach throughopening 32 across the entire diagonal distance of panel 110 to reach thenew cable 118 at cable access port 54 adjacent side 24. Panel 110 may beapproximately nineteen to twenty-three inches wide between sides andsimilarly dimensioned front to rear. Reaching across this diagonaldistance when panel 110 is mounted within rack 12 may be difficult forsome workers, particularly if panel 110 is mounted near the top orbottom of rack 12.

Clamp 112 permits loading of cables 118 into panel 10 without the needto extend an arm through the interior of panel 110. When tray 36 is inthe closed position, as shown in FIG. 15, clamp 112 is accessiblethrough cable access port 54. An end of a new cable 118 is lead to cableaccess port 54 and attached to clamp 112. Tray 36 is then swung to theopen position, as shown in FIG. 21. The end of new cable 118 is pulledthrough panel 110 and out opening 32. As indicated by the dashed line114 in FIG. 21, new cable 118 extends across the diagonal of bottom 30.New cable 118 can then be detached from clamp 112 and routed throughopening 88 into tray 36 along the other cables 118.

It is anticipated that panels 10 and 110 may modified to provideconnection locations for high speed copper cables as well as opticalfiber cables. As copper cables are used to transmit data at higherspeed, bend radius rules similar to those for optical fiber cables needto be enforced within the network. As with optical fiber, it isdesirable to have higher densities of connections within copper panelsas well.

The above specification, examples and data provide a completedescription of the manufacture and use of the invention. Since manyembodiments of the invention can be made without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention, the invention resides in the claimshereinafter appended.

1. A telecommunications termination panel comprising: a housingincluding a top, bottom and opposing sides defining a front opening anda rear opening; a tray pivotably mounted within the front opening of thehousing, pivoting about a vertical axis located adjacent one of thesides and including a cable entry adjacent the axis of pivot and aplurality of connection locations, the tray including a front wallsubstantially closing the front opening when the tray is in a closedposition, and the tray allowing access into the housing through thefront opening when the tray is in an open position; the tray including araised floor adjacent the same side as the axis of pivot, and a corneradjacent the rear opening when the tray is in the closed position, thecorner of the tray including a cable clamp accessible through the rearopening to which a cable may be temporarily attached, the cable clampadjacent to and accessible through the front opening when the tray is inthe open position; and the raised floor, the bottom of the housing andthe side adjacent the axis of pivot defining a cable path from the rearopening to the cable entry of the tray.
 2. The telecommunicationstermination panel of claim 1, wherein the connection locations includefiber optic adapters.
 3. The telecommunications termination panel ofclaim 2, further comprising a plurality of modules mounted to the traywith each module moveably mounted along a line of travel, each one ofthe modules including a plurality of fiber optic adapters, each one ofthe adapters movable with one of the modules along the line of travel.4. The telecommunications termination panel of claim 3, wherein the trayis movable between a closed position and an open position about the axisof pivot, and the plurality of adapters are oriented to connect a firstoptical fiber extending to a rear of each adapter to a second opticalfiber extending to a front of each adapter when the tray is in theclosed position.
 5. The telecommunications termination panel of claim 4,wherein the tray further includes a cable management structure forrouting optical fiber cables from the cable entry to the rear of theadapters with bend radius protection.
 6. The telecommunicationstermination panel of claim 4, wherein the tray includes a cable anchoradjacent the cable entry of the tray.
 7. The telecommunicationstermination panel of claim 6, wherein the tray includes cable managementstructure for routing optical fiber cables from the cable anchor to therear of the adapters with bend radius protection and storing cableslack.
 8. The telecommunications termination panel of claim 7, wherein asecond cable clamp is mounted to the housing adjacent the rear opening.9. The telecommunications termination panel of claim 8, wherein thesecond cable clamp is oriented horizontally.
 10. The telecommunicationstermination panel of claim 4, wherein the tray swings through an arc ofapproximately ninety degrees between the closed and the open positions.11. The telecommunications termination panel of claim 1, wherein thecable entry of the tray includes a bend radius protection structure. 12.The telecommunications termination panel of claim 1, wherein the cornerof the tray adjacent the rear opening when the tray is in the closedposition is relieved to improve access through the front opening intothe housing when the tray is in the open position.
 13. Thetelecommunications termination panel of claim 12, wherein the relievedcorner of the tray includes the cable clamp for temporarily attaching anend of a cable through the rear opening to the tray when the tray is inthe closed position and movement of the tray to the open position afterattaching the cable to the clamp pulls the cable through the rearopening so that the end of the cable is adjacent to and accessiblethrough the front opening.